A place for me to discuss recent book acquisitions, my academic and other writing, my reading of fiction and poetry, and my enjoyment of popular culture. About the name: John Dee (1527-1609) kept a considerable library at his home in Mortlake, Surrey on the outskirts of London.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

An Eventful Week

Various things came to a head recently at Mortlake, forcing the light posting.

Yesterday, after visiting with my mother, my wife and I made the traffic-clogged trip into New York City to recover. It was great to be back in the city, and even falling on my back on a sheet of ice couldn't crap on the lovely experience. I visited the Strand Book Store, which has now fully completed its transformation into a well-lit, well-appointed, ably-ventilated retail establishment. I must admit, I don't like what's happened to it. I know I'm going to sound like an annoying old bastard who hates change, but, back in the day, if you entered the Strand on a hot and humid August afternoon you couldn't actually predict that you'd make it out of the unventilated store alive. For most of us bibliophiles, that's as close to an Indiana Jones experience you're likely to get, and now that's been taken from us.

On Tuesday morning I received the final proofs for my forthcoming book, and after carefully reviewing them, I'm happy to say that I approved them. After five months of laborious back and forth, (with the Press actually introducing errors that were not present in the previous galleys on several occasions), the text is now out of my hands.

Finally, I have been devoting myself to two writing and research projects, one creative, one academic, with renewed vigor, and I also answered Brain Cronin's call to contribute to his blog Snark Free Waters, where I posted some comics-related thoughts.

Congratulations on getting your final proofs signed off on. How exciting!

I agree that there is nothing like the old school feel of a really good book store. We have lost that with stores like Borders and Daltons. I still go to both of course, because I can't stand to not have any bookstore experience, but it just isn't the same.